What choice have you made? The choice is one of devotion and dependance. Will you choose to depend on the idols that clutter your life or will you depend wholeheartedly on God alone as the source of sufficiency? The story of Israel in Jeremiah speaks to the wayward human heart that battles against God. The word of God to Israel, ”Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD. Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.’” Jeremiah 3:12-14 Would you turn away from your idols and back to God if you were Israel? Are you worshiping idols today, will you forsake them and cling to God? Continue Reading…
Choice is a matter of volition, faith a matter of heart: Jeremiah 3 and 4
Eloquence and strength manifested: Jeremiah 1 and 2
How would you react if God told you that were set apart to declare His truth to an obstinate and headstrong nation? Would you fear the people you were going to reprove? Would you question whether God had the correct person for the job? “But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.” Jeremiah 1:17-18 Continue Reading…
True joy glimpsed in a Promise: Isaiah Summary
How can we summarize Isaiah? Is the book a collection of 66 chapters about a man names Isaiah? Does the book only apply to the people of Israel in a time long past? Is the book of Isaiah a prophetic view of God working through humanity despite the inherent unfaithfulness exhibited? How does the way we look at the book of Isaiah impact our faith today over two thousand years after the death of Jesus Christ. Looking back upon the book of Isaiah the unfaithfulness and disobedience of people is consistently evidenced. Time after time Isaiah tells the people of Israel that they are straying from God. Is the book just a repetitive collection of warnings against idolatry? If you leave your view of Isaiah upon this door step of negativity, disappointment, and discipline you will miss the true joy contained in the text. Continue Reading…
Hope is truly hope when God’s fingerprints are evidenced: Isaiah 60 and 61
How has life become like this? Can I honestly talk to anyone, can anyone relate or understand? I am on a hopeless journey of life with no prospect for my future. What was once filled with joy, peace, and hope has become a deafening silence of the soul that speaks to my longing. Can you relate to these thoughts or feelings? We all go through moments where we doubt and even despair in our journey. Continue Reading…
Losing sight of God amid the process and practice: Isaiah 58 and 59
Why do we go to church? It’s what my parents always did. I want my children to go. Why do you read your Bible?Reading the Bible makes me a better person. Has your faith in God become a status or merit badge which you cling to? Oh yes, I am a christian; I’d never do what those other people do. Has your christian life become one of process and practice? Do you trust God? There is nothing more important than God. It is easy to become so consumed with following God that we lose sight of God. We go about our routine of serving God but we do not see Him. Why do we lose sight of God? Continue Reading…
Completely incomplete apart from God: Isaiah 54 and 55
I love how Scripture is poignantly intentional to hit at the heart of the human condition. God designed us to be complete but when we allowed sin to entice and separate us from Him we became completely incomplete. We are all craving acceptance and identity and more often we define ourselves by what we do not have. I am not married, successful, loved, rich, or happy. What does God tell those who are lacking and incomplete? “‘Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,’ says the LORD.” Isaiah 54:1 God desires those who are incomplete to celebrate and sing for joy. Why is that? How can we sing for joy in the midst of our despair? Continue Reading…
Despised, rejected, oppressed, and crushed for you: Isaiah 52 and 53
Such beauty seen from the grandstand of life is seldom beheld as is seen in Isaiah chapters 52 and 53. We read the beautiful foreshadowing of our present day Hope and Faith. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ The voice of your watchmen-they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion.” Isaiah 52:7,8 Within the pages of Isaiah we are given a picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Did the audience who received these worst realize how precious and beautiful these words of God truly were? ”Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.” Isaiah 52:13 Continue Reading…
You are the image of the Immortal God: Isaiah 50 and 51
Who are you? More precisely put, what defines you? Is identity defined by what we do, what we know, or what we posses? Is our identity fixed and defined from birth depending on our parents? Can identity change? “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.” Isaiah 51:1-3 Can clearly say that you are defined by God and His redemptive process at work in your life? Continue Reading…
What idols have you carved to worship this week: Isaiah 44 and 45
What type of television do you have? Is it a real joy to watch movies on it? I love to think about buying a new car. What car is the best one to own? “I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me” Isaiah 45:5 Do you enjoy drinking alcohol, what type of drink to you prefer? I love the feel of a tailored shirt. It feels great to have something that fits just right. ”Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:22 I long for a wife. Do you long to be married,to have children or grandchildren? I have become more physically fit by working out a lot. Do you love to workout too? ”For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): ‘I am the LORD, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right. ’Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.’” Isaiah 45:18-20 Continue Reading…
A dialogue of compelling love
“Which commandment is the most important of all?”
“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
“You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
